Vote for your favorite look! The only rule is you can't vote for yourself!
While not mandatory, get out there and mingle with the other thrifters.IMPORTANTThrifters, make sure you complete all directions to be eligible to win!
This way it is fair to those who followed the directions. There will be 1st, 2nd, and 3rd prizes, so don't miss out!Non-Thrifters, the rafflecopter welcomes you to vote as well, and there will be a separate prize just for you! WhoopWhoop.

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I am stuntin' and flossin' and

Savin' my money and I'm hella happy that's a bargain, b#@%$.

Mood music, please:

When I started shopping for this project, I KNEW that I wanted a Navajo inspired sweater and low and behold, it was the first thing I found! Pure dumb luck, I tell ya.

My luck didn't run out, though. I also found those BRAND NEW American Eagle Jeans {that are actually sold out and not available in stores} at Plato's closet! How is that even possible?

Luckily, my girl Tiffany knew how badly I wanted one, so she sent me one to review for y'all!
Yep, homegirl is my hero right now.

I was able to choose a large or small locket, gold/silver/rose gold, the type of chain I desired, and lots of fun charms to personalize my locket. Every aspect is just as I dreamed...

I chose:
An owl, my job
A camera, my love of photography
A suitcase, my love of travel
The aqua accent stone, my favorite color
The Peridot heart, my daddy's birth stone
The Garnet heart, Will's birth stone
And the anchor, also for Will because he is the anchor for my soul
Cheesy alert!

A few really fun things about Origami Owl:

*The company was started by a 14 year old girl in 2010!

*Everything is sold a la cart so that every locket is completely personalized and unique

*Whether you want to wear one charm or all of them on any given day, you can easily switch the charms out, much like a Pandora bracelet. Only fancier.

Tell me you don't want one:

OBSESSED.

Now go check out Tiffany on Origami Owl. She is donating 20% of all orders in February and March to the Susan G. Komen fund, and you can check out her page for the three day Breast cancer Walk here. I know that when I need a "reason" to buy fun goodies like this, a charity contribution will always win me over! Don't forget Mother's Day is right around the corner...Seems like the perfect way to show mom that you love her!

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You will probably see some pics pop up on Twitter and Instagram from my girlfriends Birthday tonight AND the ceremony tomorrow, in case you are as excited as I am. Well...I'm actually not excited about going out on a week night {Did I just say that?}, but I'll have a good time anyways. We always do!

If you could travel anywhere in the world and money was no object, where would you go? Why?I would travel The Med. Italy, Greece, France, Monaco...Le sigh.

What’s the first thing you notice about the opposite sex?Their shoes. You can tell a lot buy a guys shoe choice.

If you had to live in a decade other than the current one, which would you choose?The 50's. I feel like Will and I would fit in really well then.

If you could go back, what advice would you give yourself in high school?Don't quit exercising in College.

If you were to get a tattoo, what and where would it be?My next tattoo {and seventh} is a secret. I can't give my ideas away.I already see enough people with these now:

Who would you like to see pair up to sing a duet?Coldplay and Barbara Streisand.

If you were a TV host who would be your fantasy Co-host?My hubby. I feel like we could be the modern Sonny and Cher. Only funnier.

If you ruled the world what is the first thing you do or change?Get rid of our overpaid, overtaxing, under-empathetic Government.

Did you grow up to be who you thought you be?Pretty much. I mean, yeah...I thought I would be more of a "career woman", but everything else is as I'd hoped. Most importantly, I am proud of where I'm at, who I've chosen to spend the rest of my life with, and my outlook on life. It actually might be better than I thought.

If you were given a choice unlimited riches or immortality which would you choose?Um...neither. Unlimited riches would bring greed, ego, and misery, while immortality would be even worse. I already get sad when I think about the changes that are going to happen in my lifetime {death, societal, economic, environmental}, and I can't even imagine having to be a witness to that until the end of time. I feel like one lifetime is enough for anyone.

How many ways can you spend 250 free dollars??? I'll give you a crazy number of ways to win the $250 VISA and you figure all the ways to spend it! Sooooooo get to clicking, making friends, and crossing fingers for the winnings!

Monday, February 25, 2013

You are now talking to a Sergeant's Wife!Woohoo! I know I'm a dork.But first, let's start with National Margarita Day!!

A night filled with tequila and Dance Central fun.
It was impromptu and just the three of us {Buck is our pseudo son}, but it was the perfect celebration. Plus this makes TWO weekends in a row that I drank! That is a new record.

Due to the craziness of this night, we planned on having a lazy Saturday to make up for it.

Until...

Will came bounding up the stairs scaring the shit out of me to tell me that he GOT PROMOTED!!
The way the Army works, as an "Enlisted Soldier" you usually come out of Basic Training as an E-2 or 3(Private/PFC), and depending on what job you do, it can take quite some time to gain rank. Will, however, is what they call "high speed", so he has gone from PFC to SGT in LESS than three years. We weren't expecting this until at least summer, and one of his NCO's actually said that he has never seen someone get promoted in this "Secondary Zone". Especially someone that has a job that needs over 700 points to get promoted. #hardworkpaysoff

So this week, he got a slot for Warrior Leader Course (which can be hard to get before you have been promoted), he beat his own "Company High Physical Test score", and he got a much deserved promotion. To say I'm proud would be a gross understatement.

This called for a celebration at BJ's Brewhouse, and obviously, good friends, beer, and pizza is always the best way to celebrate ;)

Yep, you read that right.
That is our favorite pizza that tastes nothing like a pizza, but c'mon, you know it sounds awesome. Bacon makes everything better.

He makes SGT look GOOD, and he's MY Sergeant ;)

Will starts WLC next Friday, so this was our last weekend to spend together for awhile. Twenty-two days of straight classes are what is in store for him, but thankfully, he still gets to come home every night and I can take him lunch. Just part of the job!

Friday, February 22, 2013

It could be that it only exacerbates my youthful look or perhaps it's just not my color, but either way...I avoid it. However, I did find ONE pink shirt that I just had to have, and I "fearlessly" wore it for New Year's 2013! Technically this might be a "warm coral" or "california poppy", but this is as close to pink as you are going to get.

I wanted a cute/comfy outfit to wear at our New Year's shindig and this outfit was the perfect combination. I felt sassy, but appropriate.

Here are a few little snippets from the evening:

It is definitely on the list for one of my favorite New Year's of all time, and was the perfect way to round out our two week trip home.

Just the fact that I got to share my New Year's kiss with him...Well, it was simply perfect

Thursday, February 21, 2013

I kinda heard that there was a weather storm advisory, but after two years of these, I was beginning to think of them as the boy who cried wolf. This time there really was a wolf, and the Wolf was named Winter Storm Q.

It started while I was at work, but my sweet hubby stopped in and put my truck in 4wheel. Not that I can't, mind you, he's just sweet like that. Thank goodness he did, because by the time I left it was full on blizzard. It was breathtakingly gorgeous, but not exactly fun to drive in. As a matter of fact, I had to take an alternate route due to cars stuck all the way up my exit.

Whatevs, at least there was another route, and it probably had less traffic. I don't mind driving in the snow at all, but I DO mind other drivers. Especially the ones that think it's a good idea to drive tiny 2wheel drive cars in an environment that snow and ice are inevitable. At least I get to giggle as they get stuck on the hills and float into snow drifts.
{As long as no one is hurt, of course}

On the loooong drive home, I was thinking about bloggers that are dropping like flies.
Are people just overwhelmed after the holidays?

I know some people who shall remain nameless are preggers, some just got married, and some got overwhelmed from growing their blog so fast, but yeesh...I feel like half the blogs I click into are either closed down or haven't posted in a month.

Now let me just say, I am not judging you (especially those of you that are still avid readers of other blogs), but I do get concerned about y'all. I just want to make sure you are alive and well. I feel like your momma, and you haven't called to say you are coming home late.

I remember that a sweet little blogger named Elizabeth from Captivated By Grace disappeared, and I still have no clue what happened to the little nugget. Anyone else know?

Anywho, I hope that everyone affected by all this crazy weather are faring well. I am going to have to go to work because we never close {boo}, but hopefully the snow will have stopped by then. The advisory is until 11AM, so we shall see.

Wednesday, February 20, 2013

When I developed Hypoglycemia I changed my whole diet and lost weight. I maintained that weight easily with my new "lifestyle" so last time I tried to start working out, I quit the second I started gaining weight. Now, I know this was just the beginning where your body is taking in more fuel and your muscles are bulking up, so I wasn't really gaining weight, but I quit anyways :( I figured that since I could maintain by not working out, it wasn't worth the effort.

For whatever reason, I became inspired to go to the gym with Will on the weekends and enjoyed our time together, but now it has turned into more. I don't feel like it's a chore, and even now that I am at the point where I quit last time, I still want to keep going.

OwOwOwOwOwOwOwOwOwOwOwOwOw... Ow.
But seriously...how does one continue to follow her program if they are so sore they can't walk?

I would really like to continue with these, since I bought a Groupon with three of 'em, but I don't know how you keep at it if you need two days worth of recovery after each workout.
Please...someone tell me that it gets easier.

I actually don't care of any of these numbers change. I guess I wouldn't mind if the hips go up and the thighs go down, but this new hobby of mine isn't about "losing" weight; it's about being healthy and getting to eat whatever I want. Yes, I would like to tone up, and I absolutely want to take charge of my metabolism before age does, but I'm keeping long term goals so that I don't get frustrated.

One more thing, you should check out Nikki's post about workout myths. This girl has an amazing weight loss story, and she inspires me constantly. Also read Does This Uterus Make Me Look Fat if you want some real perspective and a good laugh.

According to Wikipedia I am a "Banana Shape" and that will just not do. My nickname may be Banana, but that does not sound like a good body type. Now if only I could send all the fat cells to my hips...

Tuesday, February 19, 2013

The Sony Apha NEX 5R is Erin approved, so it must be awesome. Technically, I already have $369 saved towards it but it's too bad that even though I have only spent $150 out of my allowance for two months, I won't buy it. Sometimes I hate myself for being frugal.

I also figure that I should try and handle one project at a time. I can't even figure out how to use our Kindle until I get my iPhone updated, so dealing with a new camera would be counterproductive. Dammit.
I've also decided that the developers of the iCloud need to be the ones in charge of our Nation's secrets. Even after they have created tutorials, forums, and books about their precious iCloud, I STILL don't have ANY clue as to what is going on.

How do you manage what's actually IN the icloud? I'm using all this storage with crap I'm sure I don't need, but I don't know how to delete it. I go to "Manage Storage" and it only has the restore points. Speaking of which, do I need both restore points that are saved or just the most recent one? Does the recent one contain all the data from Restore point 1 and restore point 2 or does it just leave off where restore point 1 stopped?

I've asked Will multiple times to help me, but I guess if I'm ever going to get this figured out I just have to get started myself. And by get started myself, I mean that I need all of YOUR help.

I haven't even updated to iOS6 yet, as I have been waiting to get all of this taken care of, all the while dreading the horror stories from people losing data after the install. Although, at this point Losing all the data and starting over might be a good thing.

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Do hair straighteners count as technology?

-They plug in.

-They have temp-control settings.

-They seem to be a necessity for bloggers.

I'm gonna say yes, so that I can tell you about the sweet straightener that I got sent to review.

In case you haven't noticed, I have a LOT of hair.
It grows thick and long because of good genes, taking care of it, and not over styling. As such, I am very picky about the tools I use and was skeptical when I was approached about this review.

I had heard that the company was reputable, but I certainly wasn't going to lie if I had a different experience. Luckily, I don't have to because the proof is in the pictures:

This was my first attempt at curling with a straightener, and I can't wait to try it again! It is super easy and I think I will get better the more I do it. Hi, I'm Captain Obvious.

Check out the straightener, and find it on sale here, on the Misikko site, and pass the link onto your friends and family for gift ideas. Do what I do and pin it to Pinterest, so that when people ask you what you want for Birthday/Christmas/Anniversaries you already have a list.

If you are still reading, I thank you. I was quite the ramblin' soldier today, so do forgive me. I just had a lot on my mind and you all listen really well ;)